Finally!! Bought my first Taco today, but a few small issues.

I want to thank everyone who's helped me on my first taco purchase. After 5 weeks of searching everyday, I finally have one sitting in my driveway. The body and frame are in great shape and the engine/tranny runs smooth. However, there are a few problems hopefully someone can help with:

- Rear window "latch" is broken (Black metal piece connected to the car and not gray plastic connected to the window). Is this a common occurance and something I can replace?

- Heating/Cooling issues. The truck's temp gauge will stay in the middle as long as I am moving. Once I stop at a red light, you can see the gauge creep up. Goes back down once I'm moving again. Could this be something small like a thermostat, radiator cap, or air in the system? Or something bigger like the fan, radiator, or water pump?

- Passenger side mirror seems weird and magnified. It does not have the usual "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear". Is this normal for this truck or did a previous owner change it out?

Here's a picture of the truck, I will try to post some more in the picture thread once it's cleaned up.

 

nice truck as for the back window latch. google toyota oem parts and there are a lot of people online that sell small things like that. but, it will not be cheap

 

Thanks!! Yes, it is a 4x4 model, V6 Auto. I just realized it does not have the 4x4 mudflaps on either corner. Is this something that I should get put on for paint protection?

As for the mirror, every other car I've owned always has the "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" sticker and viewpoint. This one in particular leaves a huge blind spot since everything looks magnified.

I'm not sure if the water pump has been replaced, but on the radiator support, it is written in some kind of white paint/marker "Timing Belt 74,000".

 

All those can be replaced. (junkyard or ebay) and the temperature problem you might wanna look at some oil cooler fans i live in arizona and even in the hottest days runnin her good it keeps the temp super cool.

 

If they changed the timing belt they probably changed the water pump too. How hot does your gauge reading? It sounds like you may need to check your fluids or perhaps just swap out your thermostat for a start. Glad to see you found what you were looking for man. As for the color, you chose... wisely!

 

Ok, I'll have another check at the mirror tomorrow. It's been a long day and I havne't been able to really look into it yet. The truck right now has 105K miles and there does not appear to be any coolant leaks. Is there a quicker way to verify that the timing belt really was replaced without taking everything apart?

 

When i got the timing belt changed on my 4runner they wrote the mileage on a sticker just like that. Im sure thats what its for. Go to toyota.com and find their new owner section. You can put your vin in and it will show you all services done by toyota. https://auth2.toyota.com/owners/app....do?siteid=too_toyota_btmnav_ownersinfoupdate

 

Thanks Ron! It was hard keeping my head up after all the disappointments but everything worked out in the end. I think I got a very fair deal and am very happy with the purchase, which is all that matters!

 

Yessir. My truck is my baby. You should treat your new baby to a nice complete fluid change.

 

Maybe a bad fan clutch? Sounds like water is flowing through the radiator, because the temps are normal when moving, so the water pump is probably okay. At a stoplight, there is no natural airflow through the radiator, so the fan needs to turn to move force air through the radiator. It's easy enough to check: Next time the temps creep high, open the hood and see if the fan is turning.

The previous owner may have gotten an aftermarket mirror because he broke the original one. Simplest way would be to compare the mirror's image against another 1995-2004 Tacoma.

 

I had the same overheating problem with an old Saturn I drove. The fan would was intermittent so it would overheat while idling or going up inclines at less than 40 mph. It was just not getting enough airflow. I never bothered to replace it, just sold it and bought the Taco

 

Nice truck man! Welcome to the club

I had that same brush guard haha...bit modded..but still worked okay..ish..

 

WELCOME! and CONGRATS on the new truck!! Radiant Red FTW!

First order of business: Turn those fenders flares black again!! It will make the truck look a millions times cleaner/newer. Try a Magic Eraser (wet) and follow it up with some type of protectorant.

GL w/ the rest of your issues, with some knowledge and TLC your new truck will be running at top notch

Use the search for any/all questions, you'l be absolutely amazed at the wealth of information here!

 

Yes, I plan to change the engine oil, trans oil, fuel filter and spark plugs. Just a question about all transmission and differentials. There's the Automatic tranny fluid, transfer case fluid, front diff, and rear diff. Is there anything I am missing and do most people recommend going with factory toyota for the fluids or something aftermarket like redline?

 

I had the same issue with a mirror when I broke one of the wife's mirrors. I took it back and had them replace it with another, which you can't do. It is not normal. You could probably get a new one for around $100.